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Clarke County, Georgia

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Budget Y
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Meetings Y
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Elected Officials Y
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Administrative Officials Y
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Permits, zoning Y
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Audits Y
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Contracts P
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Lobbying N
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Public records P
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Local taxes Y
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County websites
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Transparency grading process

Clarke County is one of 159 counties in Georgia. Its county seat is Athens. Athens-Clarke County is a unified city–county in Georgia, U.S., in the northeastern part of the state. In 1991, the original city abandoned its charter in order to form a unified government with Clarke County, referred to collectively as Athens-Clarke County. As of the 2010 census, the consolidated city-county (including all of Athens-Clarke County except Winterville and a portion of Bogart) had a total population of 115,452. Athens-Clarke County is the fifth-largest city in Georgia.


[edit] Evaluation of website

517px-Map of Georgia highlighting Clarke County.svg.png
Main article: Evaluation of Georgia county websites

[edit] The good

  • Budgets are posted.[1]
  • Meeting agendas, schedule and minutes are posted[2] and videos of the meetings can be watched online.
  • The Commissioners and their contact information are listed[3].
  • Administrative names and contact information is available[4].
  • The contact information needed to obtain a building permit is available. Zoning and Development Information is also available.[5][6]
  • Property tax information and a way to pay taxes online are available[7][8].
  • Bids and contract opportunities are posted.[9] Vendor and procurement information is also posted.[10]
  • The Planning Department has an Open Records Request form; general information about requesting public records for the county is not available.[6]

[edit] The bad

[edit] Budget

On April 29, 2011, the Mayor submitted a recommended operating and capital budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011. The proposal did not include a property tax rate increase or increase in public employee compensation. The proposal includes a General Fund Operating Budget of $104.0 million for FY12, $800,000 less than the FY11 Budget. The operating budget for all other funds totals $167.4 million. The capital budget for all funds is $10.1 million. The total operating and capital budget for FY12 is $177.4 million.

[edit] Stimulus

In January 2011, a blog called "Trees in Cities" reported that Athens would plant the trees purchased with $30,000 in federal stimulus funding the Athens-Clarke Landscape Management Division received in 2010, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[11]

The Athens Housing Authority received $2 million in economic stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.[12]

[edit] Public Employees

The local government is headed by an elected mayor and 10 elected commissioners from 8 geographical districts and 2 super-districts covering districts 1–4 and 5–8. The Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County's day to day operations are overseen by a manager appointed by the Mayor and Commission. There are 26 main departments, divisions and offices under the managerial group.

[edit] Elected Officials

Title Name Salary First elected Miscellaneous
MayorNancy Densonunknown2010Mayor Nancy Denson page
Commissioner Dist. 1Doug Lowryunknown2006Doug Lowry page
Commissioner Dist. 2Harry Simsunknown1992 Harry Sims page
Commissioner Dist. 3George C. Maxwellunknown2002George Maxwell page
Commissioner Dist. 4Alice Kinmanunknown2004Alice Kinman page
Commissioner Dist. 5Jared Baileyunknown2010Jared Bailey page
Commissioner Dist. 6Ed Robinsonunknown2008Ed Robinson page
Commissioner Dist. 7Kathy Hoardunknown2002Kathy Hoard page
Commissioner Dist. 8Andy Herodunknown2006Andy Herod page
Commissioner Dist. 9Kelly Girtzunknown2006Kelly Girtz page
Commissioner Dist. 10Mike Hambyunknown2008Mike Hamby page

[edit] Administrative Officials

Title Department Name Salary Appointed/Hired
DirectorFinance DepartmentJohn Culpepperunknownunknown
Athens-Clarke County AttorneyAttorney's OfficeWilliam (Bill) C. Berryman Jr unknownunknown
Supervisor of Elections & Voter RegistrationBoard of ElectionsGail Schraderunknownunknown
President/CEOEconomic Development FoundationMatt Forsheeunknownunknown
ClerkClerk of CommissionJean Spratlinunknownunknown
DirectorHuman Resources Harry E. Owens unknownunknown
Manager Manager W. Alan Reddishunknown2001
Chief Appraiser Tax Assessor Kirk Dunaganunknown2011
Tax Commissioner Tax Commissioner's Office Mitch Schraderunknownunknown
Director Transportation & Public WorksDavid Clark unknown unknown

[edit] Salaries

Main article: Georgia government salary

[edit] Pensions

Main article: Georgia public pensions

Deferred compensation, under IRS Code 457, is a tax deferred supplemental retirement program that allows public employees to contribute a portion of their salary, before federal and state taxes, to a retirement account. Athens-Clarke County employees are eligible to enroll in the deferred compensation plans on the first day of their employment. ACC also offers a deferred compensation package with a 1% (401a) match on the first 4% of salary contributed to a 457 plan.

The ACC Pension Plan is designed to provide a monthly retirement income in addition to other retirement savings plans and Social Security which an employee may be eligible to receive. An employee is vested in the plan after completing 10 consecutive years of credited service.

[edit] Emergency personnel

The Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services Department employs 185 certified and five civilian employees. The fire chief is Iby George.[13]

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department has an authorized strength of 242 sworn positions, 63 civilian positions, and 28 crossing guards. The chief of police is Joseph H. Lumpkin, Sr.[14] The Athens-Clarke County Police Department can be found on Facebook.

[edit] Lobbying

Main article: Georgia taxpayer-funded lobbying

No information was found on OpenSecrets.org or the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission website for lobbyists contracted with Athens-Clarke County.

[edit] Transparency & public records

Sunshine Review has rated the Athens-Clarke County website a "B-" for transparency.

An open records request form is available on the Athens-Clarke County website.

[edit] Taxes

Athens-Clarke County collects the following taxes:

  • Alcoholic Beverage Excise Tax: This tax includes excise taxes collected by the wholesaler on beer, wine, and liquor
  • Business Occupation Tax Certificate: The certificate includes the registration of over 5,000 businesses located in Athens-Clarke County and the annual assessment and collection of all occupation taxes from each business
  • Hotel-Motel Tax: Each month the over 20 hotels and/or motels in Athens-Clarke County collect and remit a 7% occupancy tax to the Finance Department
  • Mixed Drink Excise Tax: A 3% tax is added to all mixed drinks for the roughly 120 establishments in Athens-Clarke County
  • Motor Vehicle Rental Tax: An excise tax of 3% is collected on the rental of motor vehicles
  • Property Taxes: Property taxes are collected by the Tax Commissioner’s Office and submitted to the Finance Department

- Each year, the Finance Department prepares a report comparing property taxes for Athens-Clarke County, contiguous counties, and counties of similar size.

  • Sales Taxes: The sales tax rate for the county is $0.07 for every $1 of sales. The $0.07 sales tax is divided as follows:

- $0.04 State of Georgia - $0.01 Local Option Sales Tax / Athens-Clarke County Unified Government (ACCUG) General Fund - $0.01 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax / ACCUG Capital Projects - $0.01 Education Special Purpose / Clarke County Schools Capital Projects - $0.07 Total

[edit] External links


[edit] References

http://sunshinestandard.org
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  1. ↑ Budgets
  2. ↑ Mayor and Commission Meetings
  3. ↑ Commissioners
  4. ↑ Staff Directory
  5. ↑ Building
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Zoning and Development
  7. ↑ Tax Commissioner
  8. ↑ Online Payments
  9. ↑ Bids and Contracts
  10. ↑ Purchasing
  11. ↑ Stimulus Funds Will Help Athens Grow
  12. ↑ Stimulus Package for Athens Housing Authority
  13. ↑ Fire & Emergency Services
  14. ↑ Police Department
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